Drug references

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jb
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Drug references

Post by jb »

What do people think about the constant drug refs in JP's songs? To begin with I went along with it but now it just seems incredibly tiresome. I mean the outstretched arm on the cover of AG then reading in The Guardian that his daughter is called Poppy...I mean it just seems, er...boring.
Or it it because the group as a whole is more boring I am picking up on more things which annoy me?

Any thoughts?
veiko
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Re: Drug references

Post by veiko »

jb wrote:reading in The Guardian that his daughter is called Poppy...I mean it just seems, er...boring.
didn't Terry Riley had (has) a daughter called Poppy.
maybe Jason Pierce named his first offspring after her....
twentysixdollars
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Post by twentysixdollars »

One thing that a lot of us curmudgeonly Spiritualized hangers-on have missed is that Poppy does in fact have a mother as well, and one who may or may not have had something to do with her being named as such. In my experience the mother has usually exercised more of an influence in regards to naming, and the likelihood is that she merely liked the sound or had some sort of personal reason for lobbying for it. Jason doesn't seem like he'd go the living tribute route regardless. Admittedly when the news was released I groaned a bit, and the dope pronouncements on Amazing Grace are a great deal more tiresome than they used to be, but I wasn't bothered by them on Let It Come Down which was at least fairly clever at times (12 Steps).

Four more posts to go.
Ian

Post by Ian »

twentysixdollars wrote:and the dope pronouncements on Amazing Grace are a great deal more tiresome than they used to be
But surely, the clever thing about the references on Amazing Grace are that they are an inversion of the ones we've had up to now. While Jason always used to claim that the drug references were actually about other things, usually love, this time, they really are. He's describing non-drug related feelings using some of his most obvious drug language yet. And he don't care if he's misunderstood.

854 to go.

Love,

Ian
twentysixdollars
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Post by twentysixdollars »

I think this warrants an inventory of Spiritualized drug tunes. I'm going to limit myself only to the official full-length LPs, and may miss a few offhand "I love you almost as much as I do my smack" enterprises. It's a start. A tally follows. Only tunes with lyrics are included.

E=Explicitly mentions drugs (alcohol counts)
I=Implicitly mentions drugs
N=Denotes a tune that mentions drugs neither explicitly nor implicitly (may still be 'about' drugs)

You Know It's True - N
If I Were With Her Now - E
I Want You - I
Run - N
Step Into the Breeze - I
Smiles - N
Take Your Time - I
Shine a Light - N
Angel Sigh - I
Sway - I
200 Bars - E

4 n's ~ 7 songs that make reference to drugs

Medication - E
The Slide Song - N
All of My Tears - I
These Blues - I
Let It Flow - E
Take Good Care of It - I
Lay Back In the Sun - E
Good Times - E
Spread Your Wings - I
Feel Like Goin' Home - N

1 n ~ 9 songs that make reference to drugs

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space - N
Come Together - E
I Think I'm In Love - E
All of My Thoughts - N
Home of the Brave - E
Electricity - N
Broken Heart - E
Cool Waves - N
Cop Shoot Cop - E (John Prine quote)

4 n's (although Electricity is really dubious) ~ 5 songs that make explicit reference to drugs

On Fire - N (arguably)
Do It All Over Again - E
Don't Just Do Something - E (cigarrettes count)
Out of Sight - N
The Twelve Steps - E
The Straight and the Narrow - I
I Didn't Mean to Hurt You - N
Stop Your Crying - N
Anything More - N
Won't Get to Heaven - N
Lord, Can You Hear Me - N

6 n's ~ 5 songs that mention drugs

This Little Life of Mine - N (arguably)
She Kissed Me - E (in passing)
Hold On - N
Oh Baby - N
Never Goin' Back - N
Lord, Let It Rain On Me - N
The Ballad Of Richie Lee - E (the clever pun 'got his name on a rock again' making reference to crack, isn't it? as well as the obvious 'rotten bones full of holes')
Cheapster - N
Rated X - N
Lay It Down Slow - N

8 n's - 2 songs that make reference to drugs

So it seems that explicit drug references only became the norm circa LAGWAFIS, as before that he was quite a bit more bashful albeit probably druggier. But entire songs about drugs are becoming rarer. So I guess he's getting sick of the formula too.

3 posts left.
Ian

Post by Ian »

twentysixdollars wrote:The Slide Song - N
"I'd give it up for you but let me finish what I got". In an interview with David Cavanagh for Volume magazine, Jason admited that The Slide Song was "less ambiguous" than usual.
twentysixdollars wrote:Out of Sight - N
I would have thought that "If I am good I could add years to my life / I would rather add some life to my years" is implicit, at the least.

Love.

Ian
twentysixdollars
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Post by twentysixdollars »

Quite right Ian. Of course this was written at work without any of the records nearby and research primarily consisted of playing them back to me in my head. I had the damndest time remembering most of Amazing Grace.
Ian

Post by Ian »

twentysixdollars wrote:Never Goin' Back - N
"Should've been sold with a warning attached..."
"Gonna take it baby 'till it puts me on my back..."
twentysixdollars wrote:Cheapster - N
"It's a bitter pill to swallow but I fuckin' neck 'em all
The further you go up now babe, the further you can fall"

Love,

Ian
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Post by BzaInSpace »

:D

"And if we draw a line on the Drugometer between n and I we get a squiggly blue flash, and the ears of the cat heads expand into pyramids..."

Or something... courtesy of Chris Morris.

BUT to the topic...

I always liked the most obscure reference... the minutes silence following 'Cop shoot cop...' on original pressings of LAGWEAFIS.

Turn the volume way up and just before the cd reaches 70.00, you can hear a quiet voice say "i'm actually more a Nightol man myself".
asd2112
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Post by asd2112 »

BzaInSpace wrote::D

Turn the volume way up and just before the cd reaches 70.00, you can hear a quiet voice say "i'm actually more a Nightol man myself".
damn it. i fell for that.

asd
The Breeze
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Post by The Breeze »

As Brian Ferry said:

"Love is the drug."


It's all obsession innit?

But talking of explicit references, what about Porcupine Tree's 'Voyage 34 & Up The Downstair'. Now that's well-trippy! :shock:
a beautiful noise
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Post by a beautiful noise »

TWENTYSIXDOLLARS, i truly wish that was your 1,000 post, its was brilliant, the best i ahve seen on here ever. mind you, i will be cross-checking your work over the next few days. absolutely brilliant.


xxxshonnxxx


p/s my opinion, keep the drug references coming, as long as i can i 'll be taking them.
jb
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Post by jb »

i agree, great research that makes me think twice about my original post.

Ian - you have very good ears...
twentysixdollars
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Post by twentysixdollars »

a beautiful noise wrote:TWENTYSIXDOLLARS, i truly wish that was your 1,000 post, its was brilliant, the best i ahve seen on here ever. mind you, i will be cross-checking your work over the next few days. absolutely brilliant.
Well Ian has sharper ears. My post was just a makework project. I'm glad you enjoyed it. A better clearinghouse and an expanded drugometer is in the works. I assure you. :)
a beautiful noise
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Post by a beautiful noise »

absolutely, SPIRITUALIZED is made for taking drugs. Ahmen!


xxxshonnxxx
vigil
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Post by vigil »

we hold tight to the music that is closest to us
...music we can relate to...
maybe you've fallin out of the loop so to speak
aint no thang, get over it 8)

sing a song right now that comes straight out of your soul
...what's it about? how's it sound? what words coming out?

cuz spaceman's words never bore me

ever taken the ticket and swallowed the ride?
you'll find moments in life that can never really be shaken
...bet jason gots a grip of those, so what's it to you if he writes another pinche song bout it? so you're bored? old news is no news? if you're lucky, you'll figure out what's really going on with your boring self before times up

paz.
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